United States or Eritrea ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
"They really did, sir!" "Good!" Orne closed his eye. His breathing deepened. The nurse rang frantically for the doctors. It had been an indeterminate period in a blank fog for Orne, then a time of pain and the gradual realization that he was in a creche. Had to be. He could remember his sudden exposure on Heleb, the explosion then nothing. Good old creche.
"Remember that the women who ruled Heleb bred female or male children by controlling the sex of their offspring at conception. The method was unique. In fact, our medics thought it was impossible until " "You don't have to remind me of something we want buried and forgotten," interrupted Stetson. "Too much chance for misuse of that formula." "Yes," said Orne.
Then: "Heleb was on line of flight to Auriga, and Auriga was on the list. We've reason to doubt they put anyone down on Auriga. If their ship ran into trouble " "That's it!" snapped Orne. "Keep your voice down or talk subvocally." ordered Stetson. "Now, answer my question: What's up?" "Something so fantastic it frightens me," said Orne.
Occasionally, a door opened almost soundlessly, and a white-clad figure would check the graph tapes on the creche's meters. Orne was lingering. He became the major conversation piece at the internes' coffee breaks: "That agent who was hurt on Heleb, he's still with us. Man, they must build those guys different from the rest of us!... Yeah!
The day nurse was a tall, lean-faced professional who had learned to meet miracles and failures with equal lack of expression. However, this routine with the dying I-A operative had lulled her into a state of psychological unpreparedness. Any day now, poor guy, she thought. And she gasped as she opened his sole remaining eye, said: "Did they clobber those dames on Heleb?" "Yes, sir!" she blurted.
Find out if Heleb was one of the planets they seeded." "Right. Hang on." There was a long silence, then: "Lew, this is Stet. How come the question about Heleb?" "Was it on that Nathian list?" "Negative. Why'd you ask?" "Are you sure, Stet? It'd explain a lot of things." "It's not on the lists, but ... wait a minute." Silence.
Nothing but a slight suspicion about Heleb: the fact that only women held high office. One simple, unexplained fact ... and I lose my best agent! He sighed, turned to his desk, began composing the report: "The militant core on the Planet Heleb has been eliminated. Occupation force on the ground. No further danger to Galactic peace expected from this source.
"But what if your Nathian underground is composed entirely of women bred the same way? What if the Heleb women were just a bunch who got out of hand because they'd lost contact with the main element?" "Holy Moley!" blurted Stetson. "Do you have evidence " "Nothing but a hunch," said Orne. "Do you have a list of the guests who'll be here for the election party tomorrow?" "We can get it. Why?"
Word Of The Day